Calling all MS3 Owners with smoking Turbos...

I know the dump is post MAF on these cars. But when you are idleing or shifting the air going thru the MAF is small so the dumped air can back up thru the MAF (the wrong direction) causing a mis read. I have seen it happen on other cars, that is all I am saying.

this is definately not happening.
 
I know the dump is post MAF on these cars. But when you are idleing or shifting the air going thru the MAF is small so the dumped air can back up thru the MAF (the wrong direction) causing a mis read. I have seen it happen on other cars, that is all I am saying.

Yeah, the vacuum produced by the turbo alone won't let this happen.
 
okay, i've been in denial about it for a while, but i think my turbo is done. for a bit, it would only smoke after getting on boost ( the car SERIOUSLY only touches anything above 4psi and 3,000 rpms once a week) but now its smoking all of the time. its not too heavy, but noticeable, very blue, and smells terrible.

should i try thicker oil? catch can? **** i dont want to spend any more on this car, i needa get me a new STi.

are those whose turbos that are majorly smoking see it all the time? or only after getting on boost.
 
oh, i forgot..

year: lateeee 2008, ill check date tomorrow
mileage: JUST hit 5,000 (i know i did a lot of modding right away)
mods: alot, their listed in my sig.
 
Last edited:
I recently switched to Castrol Syntec 5w40 (apparently the only synthetic 5w40 anyone carries in like a 20 miles radius from me......) and twice it has stunk badly like it was about to fart big blue clouds at me, but nothing comes out of the tailpipe. It's been about a week. Think I am just masking the problem and not fixing it.
 
11,xxx miles and no smoke that i've noticed. that said, i am on the stock exhaust so the smoke may be hidden.

i would suspect, if i have a faulty turbo, it should be failed by now. i've been feeding the engine delicious amsoil, but i also hit full spool on a regular basis.
 
okay, i've been in denial about it for a while, but i think my turbo is done. for a bit, it would only smoke after getting on boost ( the car SERIOUSLY only touches anything above 4psi and 3,000 rpms once a week) but now its smoking all of the time. its not too heavy, but noticeable, very blue, and smells terrible.

should i try thicker oil? catch can? **** i dont want to spend any more on this car, i needa get me a new STi.

are those whose turbos that are majorly smoking see it all the time? or only after getting on boost.


Try running a 5w-40 weight oil. All you guys with downpipes should try this since you'll be the ones most likely to smoke.
 
werddd, i will try next oil change. i definetely dont want to go back to the stock downpipe, that wouldn't be any fun.
 
No more smoking...

Apparently the new turbo did the trick. Thus far, I am no longer smoking at idle. I let it sit for about 20 minutes yesterday with the engine running - not a puff of smoke. Now to wait for the break-in period... I'm curious to see if I can tell the difference with the new engine, since the original had a bad cylinder.
 
Apparently the new turbo did the trick. Thus far, I am no longer smoking at idle. I let it sit for about 20 minutes yesterday with the engine running - not a puff of smoke. Now to wait for the break-in period... I'm curious to see if I can tell the difference with the new engine, since the original had a bad cylinder.

You got a new engine under warranty?
 
[quote
I don't think thats a normal condition for seals to blow out. I had an old 1984 Turbo Coupe with a straight thru exhaust and it never smoked or leaked oil!!! And all the other turbo cars I've seen with open exhausts never smoked either... Can someone confirm or negate this comment?[/quote]

I had an open exhaust for at least 60 of 121,000 miles on my MSP and the turbo seals were fine, now I did kill a turbo when I nuked a ringland and dumped oil through it but that is another story.
I have a new motor with over 20k miles in one year on it (close 110 miles a day now) with half that using just a 3'' dp to a 3'' catless mid-pipe to a 3'' almost "muffler", muffler with no smoke at all, ever.
I have a new 3'' high flow cat now which does add a bit of back pressure supposedly 2% flow restriction versus open and it seems fine as well.
 
I ran a 1984 Turbo Coupe over 100,000 miles with no turbo failures. I also had a 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo that I ran for over three years without a problem. Mazda doesn't make the turbos on the MS3 but it nonetheless reflects badly on the automaker whenever a major part fails(see: E46 BMW coil packs).
 
Last edited:
Year:2007
Production Date (in door jam):tbd
Mileage:36200
Mods:MS CAI since 800 miles on the odometer
 
You got a new engine under warranty?

Yep, in the process of dignosing the problem, they ran a compression test and found low compression in one cylinder. That's why they replaced the engine - whether they thought it would fix the smoking problem is unclear to me.
 
hmmm i almost want to do a compression test for fun...

what are the compression levels for these cars? 190-200psi for a good engine?
 
Standard pressure is 185.65 psi at 250RPM. Minimum is 130. Allowable difference between cylinders is 28.5 psi.
 
Last edited:
I have seen my car smoke on a few ocasions. IT seems it smokes when it's in the process of warming up or after i've driven the s*** outta it. I brought it to the dealer and they could not see any smoke. I told them the two cats in the exhaust system can theoretically burn the smoke before it exits the pipe, hiding the problem, but they took it with a grain of sand.

I put alot of miles on my car aswel, and with only 36,000 miles covered, I don't want my turbo to really eat s*** a couple hundred miles outside warantee coverage.
 
I have seen my car smoke on a few ocasions. IT seems it smokes when it's in the process of warming up or after i've driven the s*** outta it. I brought it to the dealer and they could not see any smoke. I told them the two cats in the exhaust system can theoretically burn the smoke before it exits the pipe, hiding the problem, but they took it with a grain of sand.

I put alot of miles on my car aswel, and with only 36,000 miles covered, I don't want my turbo to really eat s*** a couple hundred miles outside warantee coverage.

Let it idle for 20 miinutes - if it doesn't start smoking, then you're probably OK (for now)... Mine would smoke after 5 minutes (30K miles, stock).
 
I have seen my car smoke on a few ocasions. IT seems it smokes when it's in the process of warming up or after i've driven the s*** outta it. I brought it to the dealer and they could not see any smoke. I told them the two cats in the exhaust system can theoretically burn the smoke before it exits the pipe, hiding the problem, but they took it with a grain of sand.

I put alot of miles on my car aswel, and with only 36,000 miles covered, I don't want my turbo to really eat s*** a couple hundred miles outside warantee coverage.


Powertrain goes out to 60K. At least mine does, and the Turbo is part of that.

Mine would smoke occasionally. Mostly when sitting at idle. Found oil on the intake side of the intercooler and took it in. New Turbo, under warranty and 54000 miles on the odo.
 

New Threads and Articles

Back